The European play-offs advance to 4 out of 16, with Italy in the first pot and its bitter hosts, Sweden and North Macedonia, in the fourth pot.

All the European competitions in the World Cup preliminaries have ended. The 12 group winners will advance directly. The 12 group runners-up and 4 teams with better UEFA Nations League results will form a 16-team play-off. The 16 teams will determine 4 teams to participate in the 2026 United States, Canada and Mexico World Cup.

List of 16 European teams and brackets for the World Cup preliminaries:

First 4 teams: Italy, Denmark, Türkiye, Ukraine.

The 4 teams in the second pot: Poland, Wales, Czech Republic, and Slovakia.

Third Pot 4 teams: Ireland, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo.

The fourth pot of 4 teams: Sweden, Romania, North Macedonia, and Northern Ireland.

According to the competition system, the first pot will draw the fourth pot, and the second pot will draw the third pot. The first and second pot teams will have home field advantage in the first round. It is a single-game elimination system. The winner will draw lots to determine the home and away games for another round of knockout rounds. The winner will advance to the 2026 US-Canada-Mexico World Cup. The World Cup qualifying play-off matches will be held on March 26 and March 31, 2026.

This means that Italy, which has missed two World Cups, has a half chance of encountering a misfortune in the play-offs. Italy has been eliminated by Sweden and North Macedonia in the past two World Cup play-offs. Now Italy is in the first pot, while Sweden and North Macedonia are both in the fourth pot. Italy has a 1/4 probability of drawing Sweden and North Macedonia. Football often has its own mysteries, and there is a high probability that Italy will meet one of Sweden or North Macedonia.

Although Sweden has not won in six rounds of World Cup qualifying, they have two top Premier League forwards in Isaac and Jokeres; while North Macedonia drew with Belgium both home and away in the group stage and is also very competitive.